Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

Douglas W. Tallamy’s "How Can I Help? Saving Nature with Your Yard" is a call to arms, a quiet but urgent revolution for anyone who has ever looked at their backyard and wondered whether it could be doing more.

Tallamy, known for his work in conservation and native plants, continues his crusade against ecological apathy, offering homeowners, gardeners, and everyday citizens a tangible way to make a difference in their own slice of the world.

A Shift in Perspective
One of Tallamy’s greatest strengths is his ability to reframe ordinary landscapes as critical ecosystems. Lawns, traditionally seen as symbols of suburban neatness, are unmasked here as sterile monocultures, stripped of biodiversity. Tallamy dismantles the idea that environmental conservation is an exclusive endeavor reserved for policymakers or scientists. Instead, he argues that real change starts at home—with native plants, thoughtful landscaping, and a rejection of the aesthetic conventions that prioritize uniformity over ecological health.

Unlike some environmental books that drown readers in abstract ideals, "How Can I Help?" thrives on actionable advice. Tallamy outlines clear steps for readers to transform their own yards into thriving habitats—no need for grand gestures, just a willingness to rethink traditional gardening norms. Whether it’s planting keystone species that support insect populations or eliminating pesticide use, the book offers a practical roadmap to rebuilding ecosystems from the ground up. His writing balances optimism and urgency; the planet is struggling, yes, but individuals wield incredible power to restore what has been lost.

This book speaks to multiple audiences: the seasoned environmentalist will find affirmation in Tallamy’s work, while the beginner—perhaps someone who never thought twice about the importance of their backyard—will leave with a newfound sense of responsibility. Tallamy doesn’t preach; he persuades, with evidence, logic, and a passion that’s hard to ignore.

"How Can I Help?" is an instruction manual and an inspiration that challenges conventional wisdom about land stewardship, offering an alternative vision in which yards, gardens, and public spaces become tools for ecological recovery.

By the last page, you won’t just be convinced—you’ll be ready to act.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Timber Press for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

This was quite dry and didn’t give me what I was looking for.

How Can I Help? is an accessible, interesting, and often sobering look at natural diversity and the challenges of invasive species in the context of suburban and exurban spaces presented by Dr. Douglas Tallamy. Released 8th April 2025 by Hachette on their Timber Press imprint, it's 376 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout.

According to the WHO one of the biggest threats to humanity is the loss of biodiversity across climates and geographical areas. Dr. Tallamy does a good job of presenting the facts along with a list of achievable local/personal actions readers can incorporate which will have a net positive benefit for local native species.

It's written in layman accessible language and although it's not annotated or academically rigorous, the author does a very good job of "showing his work" and the resources bibliography and links at the end of the book will provide readers with many hours of further reading. The concluding chapter/appendix contains a number of good questions from the author for readers to consider.

Graphically, it's simple and direct. There's not a lot of photography, but what there is, is high quality, clear, and in color.

Four stars. Dr. Tallamy has a strong and sure voice, and provides concrete ideas for helping recover our planet. It would be an excellent choice for public or school library acquisition, for home use, and for book club discussion.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes

Can your yard help the entire world? Maybe not, but it can change your neighborhood, and the world for some bugs. Through a series of suggestions on how to make your yard a bug haven and to cause the waves that will, the reader learns all sorts of good stuff about insects and the ecosystem. Tallamy is very knowledgeable on his subjects, that much is clear. However, the Q&A format that the entire book takes makes it slightly tedious reading. This is better off as a reference text than anything to read in one sitting.

Wow !!! this is a big (over 300 page) book with so much comprehensive information to help in your gardens, yards and help all the birds and animals that might show up. This book must have taken hours and hours of research. It's broken up in large chunks with the chapters being Ecology and evolution, Biodiversity, Native and Non Native Plants, Oaks, Invasive Species, Pest Control, Conservation and Restoration Home Landscapes, Supporting Wildlife at Home and concluding questions. When you read this book you will want to set aside the time to dive deep into these categories, Once you read it though I am sure you will have some specific parts that you will come back to from time to time. I definitely marked spots that I know I will need in the future.
I really like at the end that he also included Online resources to further your search if needed and whole slew of sustainability initiatives for anyone who's interest.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Fantastic information, great layout, and highly relevant in today's world. Written to be accessible for everyone, Douglas W. Tallamy knocks it out of the parks with this guide. I will be recommending this to everyone who needs a little more information about what they can do to help save our natural world.

This book was absolutely fascinating and will be a huge source of information for people.

From what flowers/native grasses to plant, to what trees provide the best environment for wildlife, this book has it all. It even goes into why things have vanished it seems, and how we can work to bring them back in little ways.

You will not need to read every question and answer in this book to get something out of it. Even if you only focus on a few, it'll be worth it because of how much good information the author has made available. I think, at times, a lot of us get overwhelmed when it comes to changing the world around us into its former self when it comes to the great outdoors. This book makes it so that even with just a few plants and a tree, you can change the world you live in for the better and for the environment at large. One thing this book does talk about that I know will be a hard pill to swallow for some people is that mosquitoes and wasps have a place in the environmental food chain that is important, and without them, the other things we love will not be able to continue on. There are ways to protect yourself from them, but ultimately it does seem that we need to learn to share are environment more and to learn to ignore them as best as we can.

Now, if you'll excuse me I need to go find a place to plant a few oak trees.

Start the spring with reading this book on how to healthy sustain a native gardening and nature in your backyard. Educational and insightful.

I really enjoyed Tallamy's book, Nature’s Best Hope, and was eager to read this one. But I'm disappointed in the question/answer format. It doesn’t flow like his other narrative nonfiction.

I love Doug Tallamy's books and his advice on how to make your backyard more friendly to wildlife. This easy-to-read question-and-answer format in "How Can I Help?: Saving Nature with Your Yard" works great and gets to the heart of things without much waffle.

There are tons of awesome tips here to help people make small differences in their own backyards. Many of these tips impart knowledge and are something that anyone can put into action.

I have already recommended this book to a couple of friends and would highly recommend it to anyone who loves nature and wants to have a tiny National Park outside their door. Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC.

I want to firstly thank the publisher and NetGalley for a digital review copy/ARC of this title!

I cannot wait to share this book with my friends, family, and patrons! I was first introduced to Doug Tallamy by my local Wild Ones chapter and really enjoyed reading another one of his books (“Nature’s Best Hope”) last year. Consequently, I was thrilled to learn that I had received an ARC of his upcoming title, “How Can I Help?”

If you are looking to learn more about native plants and their importance in our world in an accessible format, this is the book for you. Within its pages, Tallamy expertly answers a wide range of questions he has received over the years as an environmental advocate. As a cofounder of the nonprofit Homegrown National Park and a leading entomologist in his field, his experience and passion for the subject shine through this volume.

Broken into several sections organizing the types of questions he has received (including ecology & evolution, biodiversity, native and non-native plants, oaks, invasive species, pest control, conservation & restoration, home landscapes, and supporting wildlife at home), this book skillfully addresses an assortment of questions with a majority of answers being relayed in layman’s terms. This is definitely a book that can either be read straight through, or as a reference guide to be used as specific scenarios/topics come up.

Overall, I would highly recommend this informative and hopeful read to those looking to generally expand their knowledge on native plants and what we can do as individuals in our own yards to contribute to the larger ecosystem and natural world we are a part of.

This is like sitting down in a group Q&A with an expert and learning all kinds of new things and reinforcing things you've already known. I highly recommend How Can I Help for fans of other Douglas Tallamy books. It's a great addition to your shelf!

In this book, he lists questions from readers with his answers, organized by topic (such as biodiversity, native and nonnative species, etc. I found myself skimming each page for the questions that I found most interesting, but also read the full book front to back. I enjoyed both ways of reading, and I see myself coming back to the book on a regular basis to continue learning.

Thank you to Netgalley and Timber Press for the Advance Read Copy! I look forward to adding the hard copy to my shelf when it comes out April 8, 2025!

I received a free copy from the publisher through Netgalley and voluntarily reviewed it.

I am so glad I got this one through Netgalley. This book changed how I think about nature and ecology. It has expanded my knowledge so much and I loved learning so much in depth knowledge about a topic I am interested in, but knew little about. It was so engaging reading this book and learning more about how ecosystems work, the importance of pollinators, caterpillars, the way individual people can help and more.

I liked the positive tone of this book. While it shares a lot of sad reality about how nature isn't doing well, the author very much focuses on what we can do to help. I liked realizing the impact even a single yard can have and how the author explains how to handle this. I also liked how he also understands people want some specific plants that might not be natives or still have lawn in their yard and how to incorporate those and still have your lawn help the ecosystem as well. It was obvious how much knowledge he has about the topic.

This is book is fully made up of questions the author got asked and his answers to those. These questions are sorted by theme in a chapter. I liked this way of organizing the book as there would be a lot of questions and thus information about a certain topic before moving on to the next. I liked how the question and answer format allowed me to easily pick it up and read for as long as I wanted. It was easy to pick it up and get back into it with a new question and I could set the book aside after reading one or more questions.

It took me a long time to get through this book as I wanted to take my time and allow for my brain to process the new information. Some days I didn't read at all, some days I read one or a few questions and other days I could read whole pages in a row. I enjoyed being able to experience this book that way and to expand my knowledge. It inspired me and if a future house has a garden I definitely want to apply some of the things I learned from this book.

The focus of the book is on the United States and it names specific plants and flowers that are native to the USA or issues that currently play in the USA. Despite not living in the USA I thought this book was very helpful as a lot of the general principles apply across continents. It made me excited to look up what native plants are in the Netherlands and hopefully find some good sources for that.

To summarize: I really enjoyed this book. It was awesome learning so much new information about a topic I am interested in, but didn't know a lot about. This book vastly expanded my knowledge of nature and ecology. It also inspired me to apply some of the ideas to my own garden if a future house has one. I liked the question and answer style of the book with the questions grouped per topic. It was easy to pick the book up and read as many questions with answers as I wanted. I also really liked the encouraging tone and the focus on how individual people can make a difference and help nature with their yard. All in all I had an awesome time reading this book and can recommend it to everyone wanting to know more about ecology and what they can do to help nature.

DNF'ed at around 40% simply because this book wasn't what I was personally looking for. It's great if you have a particular project in mind, or perhaps if you flip through it when you have a VERY specific question about a real-world ecosystem you interact with. I think this is a perfect book to own in physical form as part of a broader collection of ecology books that you browse regularly. But for a casual reader looking to learn more about ecosystem restoration and the like, this format just doesn't do it, so I'm moving on. Thank you to NetGalley for providing this copy! I will likely still recommend this book from time to time when the moment is right for it.

Filled with questions and knowledgeable answers, this book by Doug Tallamy fills a niche for those wanting to learn both broadly and in depth about creating ecosystems using native plantings. It’s a great read and I highly recommend it.

This is a great book for anyone wanting to learn more about biodiversity and sustainability right in your own backyard. I enjoyed the question and answer format of this book. This format made it a little different than his other books but it was still a great read and full of great information for anyone interested in nature, gardening, biodiversity and sustainability.

As a reference book, I think this is top notch. I also appreciated the simple but effective question and answer layout. I gave it four stars because the tone is quite dry at times. That's why as a reference book it works because you're looking for quick answers and not a casual read from front to back. Also, the pictures used were fascinating.

Many of do not know where to start with conservation and are overwhelmed. The author uses l\lectures to show us how to use conservation in our own backyards. He talks about evolution and the environment and how we can use ell this ourselves in oiur own environment. I recommend this book for environment readers.

I thoroughly enjoyed Nature’s Best Hope (2020) and I love love love that the author followed it up with a Q&A book. It is just that.: a book of our questions and his answers. Simple, but super concept. For sure, this is a book I’ll be buying and coming back to again and again.
4 stars!

The content of How Can I Help? is fantastic! The ease of reading is meh.
The book is chunked into major topics, which helps you hone in on the section you're looking to read about, and Tallamy gives great answers to questions that many of us may have about things like transforming our yards, oak trees, invasive species, and native plants. Within each section of the book is a series of questions and answers. It's difficult to read for an extended time as it feels disjointed. Additionally, there is no further breakdown within each large section, so if you're looking for something specific, you'll read the whole section to find it.

I love the advice and think this book brings a bounty of knowledge. However, it's hard to use to its full potential.